Oscar constipation

I'm starting to remember why I got out of this hobby, too much worry! Was feeding Hikari gold minis, sinking. Feed twice (sometimes 3xday) easy to ration so ~2 at a time average. Switched to API Chiclid floating b/c they are a bit smaller, float so I can get them out and he he really seems to like them better.

Last meal 12 hrs ago, for the past 3 hrs he's been pooping what looks like whole pellets. His belly was white (bloated).
Appears to be finally finished, bum is still swollen but belly no longer white and he's not surfing and is begging for food.

I pretended I was going to feed him, was gung ho so appetite still there.

Researched suggests peas, spinach, etc but he won't take them. I have omega one frozen cichlid formula I got as a treat. Would this be better to feed him then the the hard pellets until he is bigger? (hes about 1.5in).
Soak pellets first? I've always had fish that just ate flakes, thought when I got the pellets, these things are really hard how's he going to do with them, I guess I found out.

Not sure what to do different when I start feeding him again.

Thanks

Pellet foods can be an issue if they are very hard. Personally I prefer to feed Oscars on marine meats like prawn/ shrimp, fish (blue sardines and white bait), and squid/ octopus.

You can buy these from fishing/ bait shops in the freezer section or buy them from a supermarket for human consumption. Keep them in the freezer and each day take out one or two bits, defrost them and offer them to the fish.

If the Oscar is an adult it only needs feeding once a day or even every second day.

When using meat based foods, monitor the water quality and do big regular water changes (75% every week) and gravel clean the substrate. Clean the filter at least once a month.

Colin_T said:

Pellet foods can be an issue if they are very hard. Personally I prefer to feed Oscars on marine meats like prawn/ shrimp, fish (blue sardines and white bait), and squid/ octopus.

You can buy these from fishing/ bait shops in the freezer section or buy them from a supermarket for human consumption. Keep them in the freezer and each day take out one or two bits, defrost them and offer them to the fish.

If the Oscar is an adult it only needs feeding once a day or even every second day.

When using meat based foods, monitor the water quality and do big regular water changes (75% every week) and gravel clean the substrate. Clean the filter at least once a month.

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Not sure how old he is, guessing a month (he's about 1.5in). Definitely not opposed to this but they are omnivores, what do you give them besides meat? Was thinking about doing what you've suggested and supplementing with some kind of veggie pellet. Not oppose to all the maint involved but to be honest I don't want to have to fish carrots, spinach, peas, etc out of the tank all the time if I don't have to.

Or maybe not? Honestly I'm a bit confused, anytime researching what to feed them Veggies always show up in some form but I've never seen a fish farming before lol.

Oscars are ambush predators and don't normally eat plant matter.

While the fish is small, I would use a combination of marine meats and some frozen (but defrosted) foods like Brineshrimp, bloodworms, mysis shrimp and marine mix/ marine green mix.

Marine mix is prawn, fish and squid. Marine green is the same but has plant matter mixed in with it. If you want the fish to have some plant matter, then offer marine green every couple of days and use marine mix or other foods the rest of the time.

If you want to feed pellets, try soaking them for a minute before feeding them, and use a pellet you can crush with your fingers. If you can crush them by hand, they should break down quickly in the fish's stomach. If you can't crush them easily, they will probably take a long time to break down inside the fish.

Yes, thank you. I soaked two last night for 5 min, he didn't have to spend much time grinding them down. This morning he got some frozen cichlid; looks back to normal. Getting some algae tabs coming in the mail, that'll be his veg and we'll see how it goes.

Thanks again.

Yes, soaking in tank water

So I got him a raw shrimp at the grocery store, read very high in fiber and thought it'd get things moving for him. To say he's a fan is an understatement. It may have a tad big, he's like a rottweiler with a steak.

Should I be concerned? I'll probably skip breakfast tomorrow.
Ive become way to attached to this fish lol

You need to cut the shrimp or food into small pieces so it can swallow them.
Remove any uneaten food after feeding.

Colin_T said:

You need to cut the shrimp or food into small pieces so it can swallow them.
Remove any uneaten food after feeding.

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Oh I did cut it, I thought pretty small but not quite small enough. Tried to get it out but he wasn't having any of that; next piece will be tiny.

Not really getting much better. I've not fed him in ~16hrs. Last night I gave him an epsom salt bath, after it was lights out and he was pretty calm. This morning no food (second does of API gen cure, trying to rule out internal parasite).

He's glass surfing this morning. Vent was flush with his body, no protruding some so looks like he's trying to go to the bathroom.

Finally managed to get some pics.